Artistry & Materials

 Q&A About The Artistry

 

1.  What materials are used to create a Reborn doll? This depends heavily on the type of doll desired. Vinyl dolls and silicone dolls have different processes of creation. For a silicone, typically, a cast is created by a sculptor, into which a melted down silicone such as EcoFlex, can be poured and set in a single piece. When ready, the cast is pulled open and the silicone doll is extracted, excess silicone is sanded down and then an artist who has purchased the blank doll uses paints like Irresistables' Silicone Paints and matting powder to give the doll a more lifelike appearance. If a vinyl doll, a sculptor creates a mold, into which melted plastic (vinyl) is poured and allowed to set. After setting, the mold is opened and the vinyl parts are removed. The parts are then sanded down to remove excess vinyl, I think. Once the blank kit is ready, it might be purchased by an artist, who may use colored pencils, air dry paints or Genesis Heat Set Paints (GHSP) alongside a set of soft brushes and various sponges to paint it as realistically as possible. If using heat set paints, artists also "bake" the doll parts in a convection oven basically every time they do a layer of paint on the doll. Once the layers have all been cooked in, they are usually sealed with a clear matte varnish. As far as rooting is concerned, rooting tools like tweezers and rooting needles are used on both silicone and vinyl dolls, though the dolls made of material that is tougher to bend like vinyl probably require thicker or tougher needles to get the hair through. Also, silicone dolls do not tend to have their rooted hair glued in because silicone is a tricky surface for any glue to adhere to. For vinyl dolls though, the rooted hair is always fixed to the inside of the head using a tough adhesive or glue like E6000. The hair itself is usually mohair, but some artists will also use human hair or angora. Alternatively for vinyl dolls, if the artist is not comfortable with rooting, they may use a cut wig and some E6000 on the "scalp" of the doll's head. Additionally, for "awake" dolls, most artists will use either a realistic set of resin eyes or a hand-crafted pair of German glass eyes (which are, in my opinion, the most realistic looking. I actually requested German glass eyes for Cain and his whole face, because of them, is the most realistic and alive looking of all of my babies).
2. What's the difference between rooting and wigging? Rooted hair is poked into the doll's head using a needle and if the doll is vinyl, the individual strands of hair are fixed into the inside of the head with a tough glue. A wig, however, is fixed to the outside of a vinyl doll's head with a powerful glue. Rooted hair is generally the most recommended of the two options with vinyl dolls though because the act of threading the hair through a small hole in the material coupled with a strong glue inside the head helps prevent hair loss, whereas wigs will usually come unglued with brushing, washing or clothing changes. Many collectors in the hobby though say that painted hair is the best option overall, since there is no hair for the doll to lose in the first place then.
3. How is the realistic skin tone and texture achieved? The realistic skin tones and textures are achieved through a lot of trial and error when blending paints, just the same as with any other painted art form. Artists also usually use reference photos of real babies when painting, so they can find a close color match for things like skin color, mottling, peach fuzz, milk bumps, stork bites, etc. The realistic texture is created with the use of the artist's brushes and sponges, which are typically gently dabbed over the painted "skin" to achieve the desired effects.
4. Why do artists "weight" Reborn dolls, and how is it done? The artists typically weight their dolls in order to achieve a more realistic effect when the doll is held in someone's arms and this is usually done by taking a pair of hose and some glass beads or Baby Fat pellets, pouring the beads or pellets into the hose, tying the hose off and carefully stuffing it into the head, limbs and cloth body of a vinyl doll. Silicone does not have to be weighted as its solid mass creates the weight on its own.
5. What are some good places to find materials or tutorials for creating a Reborn doll? For the actual materials, the best places are usually Bountiful Baby, Irresistables or Macpherson's but both materials and tutorials can be purchased on Reborns.com and Etsy as well. However, you may not have to pay for a tutorial if you do not wish to. Another good way to get a tutorial is by searching them on YouTube. As a matter of fact, I personally recommend this series by nlovewithreborns2011. She explains the tools and each step very clearly and concisely, while offering sage advice and tips for creating vinyl dolls.
6. Is a Reborn doll still a Reborn doll if it is not created using a blank kit designed by a sculptor? Well, that depends on who you ask within the hobby. Some collectors and artists will stick by the textbook definition of what a Reborn doll is and tell you that any doll you repaint or reroot is a Reborn doll, while others will stick up their noses a bit and say that a Reborn doll is only a Reborn doll if the kit used for it was a kit created for the specific purpose by a sculptor. As for me personally, I go by the textbook definition.
7. How can I tell if a Reborn doll's blank kit was created by a sculptor? The most common indicator of this is usually a sculptor's signature or copyright mark located on the back of the baby doll's neck/head. But this is not always shown in online photos, so if you are trying to determine this based on photos from a listing, you are going to need to look for a photo of the Certificate of Authenticity or COA or ask for one from the person selling the doll if you are strictly wanting to be sure you are purchasing or at least looking at a doll created using a sculptor's kit.
8.  You mentioned IDs. Does this mean that all Reborn dolls are legally protected? That would be so nice but no. Unfortunately. The problem is, the IDs sort of backfire in a way that allows companies to steal sculpts. All they need is access to one single doll's ID and then they have the information with which to create tons of identical or similar IDs that will "legalize" their versions of the kit within the court systems of their own countries. The only system I have heard of that actually protects an artist's Reborn Doll sculpture artwork is nlove's security system, where an ID sticker is placed inside the head of the doll, containing a code key that links the doll's identification back to her specifically. For this reason, I personally do not share my dolls' documentation anywhere online, nor do I share photos of the backs of their necks, which is where the sculptors' signatures or marks are typically located. I do not want to help provide the information necessary for companies to steal sculpts. (Unfortunately though, someone else in the last year was not so careful apparently with their Charlie kit, so now my favorite sculpt in my collection, Joanna Kazmierczak's artwork, has been stolen. Sigh.)
9. It seems like you are against the stealing of sculpts. Are you involved with the RAA at all? No. If I was, I'd be kicked out promptly. I simply sympathize, as a fellow artist myself, to a degree, with how it feels to get your work stolen. That said though, I am also on the side of nlove. I feel that if an artist truly does not want their work stolen, they should try to come up with a system that actually protects their work. I am also in defense of people who love realistic dolls but do not have the budget for most 'real' Reborns, I feel they deserve to experience the things that make them happy as well, just as much as anyone else does. After all, I know myself what it is like to want a Reborn doll so badly and not be able to obtain it for myself because I had to deal with that for fifteen years of my life.
10.  What is the RAA? The RAA (Reborn Artists' Association) is, on paper, a group that seeks to elevate the artform of the Reborn Doll hobby to an awards association or museum level status. Achieving that level of elevation and respect is a good thing and I can say I do agree with the RAA on that end goal, it's a great one. But this situation is not black-and-white. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy the dolls that they like, I believe and I also believe that that could have been achieved or maybe still could be achieved while avoiding getting sculpts stolen. The reason I would say I do not completely align with the RAA is that some of it's members in the community have treated others like they do not deserve to enjoy the realistic dolls they want to enjoy simply because they do not make enough money to do so. It is moreso those people that I disagree with than the RAA as a complete whole, I suppose. I am all for protecting artists' works but I am also for accessibility.
11.  More Q's coming soon!